Buyer attendance dropped off 3.8%, or by 212, at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market held January 23-26 in Salt Lake City, according to an independent audit recently released by Nielsen Sports Group, which produces the show.
Total attendance at the show reached 17,341, which was essentially flat with record attendance at the 2007 show, when attendance soared by 3,244, or nearly 23%. The number of stores represented declined by 198, or 9%, this year.
What the attendance numbers mean and how important they are, is open to debate. Some say the decline in buyers reflects consolidation among retailers. Others say some retailers may have been too busy capitalizing on this years snow to get away. (Buyer attendance dipped 1.4% at the SIA.08 show in Las Vegas a week after ORWM, according to unaudited figures provided by SnowSports Industries America.)
Still others suggest that retailers are opting to attend less expensive regional shows or are cutting back given a torrent of negative news about the economy.
“My personal opinion is attendance will continue to drop in the foreseeable future,” said David Matz, president of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, a marketing alliance of 34 outdoor specialty retailers with 74 stores. Matz estimated the cost of attending ORWM at $1,160 per person. With retailers now writing most of their business before the show, thats an expense many can no longer justify.
OR show director Kenji Haroutunian emphasizes that when measured by overall attendance, including buyers, ORWM remains the fastest growing show run by Nielsen Sports Group, which also produces OR Summer Market, ASR, interbike, Fly Fishing Retailer and Health + Fitness Business Show. Exhibitors responded this year, by leasing 18,700 square feet of space, up 5.7% from 2007.
“Its organic growth with existing exhibitors getting bigger and asking for more space,” Haroutunian said. “Exhibitors dont care about number of attendees, they care about the quality of attendees who come to their booth. If they are seeing the right people at the show and business is growing because of the show, they are happy. The real data that matters is what happens to their business at the show.”
The 2007 show was also tough to measure against. Buyer attendance in 2007 soared by more than 1,000, or nearly 22%, to 5,651.
A break down of buyers at this years ORWM, shows 67.2% came from specialty retailers with fewer than 10 stores, 8.8% came from specialty retailers with 10 or more stores and 8.5% came from sporting goods retailers. Drilling down by specialty market focus, 36.2% were looking for snow sports products, 19.7% were looking for backpacking/camping/hiking gear, 8.9% were looking for travel/adventure gear, 7.6% were after scouting climbing/mountaineering gear, and 3.8% were shopping trail running/Nordic products. When asked what categories they were shopping, 25.7% said accessories, 24.9% said apparel, 23.3% said gear/equipment, and 21.0% said footwear.
Geographically, the show continued to draw overwhelmingly from the west. Thirteen western states accounted for nearly three-quarters of the buyers. Eight mountain states accounted for 56%. Other regions and their share of buyers were: South Atlantic, 5.3%; New England, 4.6%; East North Central, 4.0%; Mid Atlantic and West North Central, 3.6% each; West South Central, 2.0%; and East South Central, 1.9%. Another 582 buyers, or 10.8%, came from foreign countries, including 205 from Canada, 106 from South Korea and 105 from Japan.
